Netanyahu Remains Adamant Against Iran Deal

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Sunday repeated his warnings against easing sanctions against Iran ahead of a new round of international talks over the country’s nuclear program.

“I think you should increase the pressure, because it’s finally working,” Mr. Netanyahu said on CNN’s “State of the Union.”

U.S. negotiators will join with global powers for negotiations with Iran starting Wednesday night in Geneva. It will be the third round of talks since the August inauguration of Iranian President Hasan Rouhani, who has pledged to revitalize his country’s economy and roll back international sanctions.

In talks this month involving the other permanent United Nations Security Council members as well as Germany, U.S. officials believed they were close to completing an initial deal to roll back some parts of Iran’s nuclear program in return for an easing of sanctions.

Israel, on the other hand, has been adamant in insisting that Iran completely dismantle its nuclear program in return for any sanctions relief. Netanyahu said that previous U.N. Security Council resolutions call on Iran to “dismantle all its centrifuges and the plutonium reactor, which are used only for one thing: to make nuclear weapons.”

American officials say an interim agreement offers the U.S. and Israel the best chance to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons in the near-term while seeking a final agreement over the next year.

Leading lawmakers, both Republican and Democratic, are pressing to enact even more sanctions on Iran in a bid to deny the country a nuclear weapon, something Tehran denies it is pursuing. Mr. Netanyahu supports that approach.
“If you continue the pressure now, you can get Iran to cease and desist,” he said.

Netanyahu said he believed any easing of sanctions now would send the wrong signal to Iranian officials, and that it would be difficult to build the sanctions back up again if Tehran fails to abide by the terms of the interim agreement.
He said that if “all of a sudden you take off the pressure, everybody will understand that you are heading south. You’re really going to be in danger of crumbling the sanctions regime.”

Israel’s leader warned that what he called a “bad deal” to ease sanctions on Iran escalates the risk of military confrontation between the two countries. “If you do a bad deal, you may get to the point where your only option is a military option,” Mr. Netanyahu said. “Israel always reserves the right to defend itself against any threat.”

In reference to peace talks with the Palestinians, the Israeli leader called on the Palestinians to make more concessions.

“We’re talking. But I would like to see some movement on the Palestinian side,” he said. “You want us to recognize the Palestinian state for the Palestinian people. How about recognizing the Jewish state for the Jewish people?”

Related: WSJ’s Jay Solomon says it is still likely the U.S. will reach a deal with Iran over halting its nuclear program. But any pact that relieves sanctions would still face heavy political opposition from Congress and allies such as Israel.

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